There’s an interesting little buzzword that has increased in popularity over the last few years. It’s called “intersectionality,” and the idea of intersectionality has become so common in recent times that it seems like nearly everyone is accepting it. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, here is how the Oxford Dictionary defines it-
“The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”[1]
Basically, intersectionality is the idea that one’s primary identity is found in their race, gender, class, sexual orientation, etc., and that identity reveals how disadvantaged or discriminated against one is in life. For example, according to intersectionality, the low-income LGBTQ minority woman is considered the most disadvantaged in our society, but the high-income straight white man is considered the least disadvantaged in our society. While there are several issues with the idea of intersectionality, the main one is this – it’s unbiblical.
The problem with intersectionality is that it has become more than just an idea. It’s a worldview that answers life’s fundamental questions, like “Who am I?” According to Dr. Neil Shenvi, the worldview of intersectionality teaches that our identity is found in a group that is vying for power. But the Bible answers the question of identity very differently. It teaches that-
“Primarily, you are made in God’s image, number one. Number two, you are a sinner. And number three, you are in need of a Savior.”[2]
First, we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Each of us were formed and knitted together in our mothers’ wombs by the Father (Psalm 139:13). Our lives have inherent worth and value, and God loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).
Second, we are wretched sinners. Ever since the Fall, each and every human being (except for Jesus) has possessed a sin nature (Genesis 3, Psalm 51:5, Ecclesiastes 7:20). Our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). In fact, the Bible says that those who sin are slaves to sin (John 8:34). It is impossible for us not to sin.
Third, we are in need of a Savior. Because we sin against a holy, righteous God, we deserve death and eternal separation from Him (Romans 6:23). But God, in His great love, mercy, and grace, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life, to die for our sins, and to be resurrected and give us new life (John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21). All we need to do to be saved is to believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9, John 5:24). There is no other way of salvation (Acts 4:12).
And when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are given a new primary identity – Christian, a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, holy and righteous.
In a teaching session a few years back, author and speaker Priscilla Shirer taught this same idea. She said-
“I do not describe myself as a black woman because that gives too much power to my blackness. I don’t want black, my race, to be the describing adjective, the defining adjective of who I am as a woman. I’m not a ‘black woman.’ I am a Christian woman who happens to be black… It is going to be that I am a woman who believes every single thing that my God has declared to be true, and I will stand firmly on the promises of His Word because I will be girded in truth. So you may be a black woman, a black man, a white woman, a white man, but that should not define you, so that if your race or if your political group is going in a different direction than the Word of God, you don’t choose your blackness or your whiteness or whatever culture you are. You do not choose that or your political persuasion over what it is that God’s Word declares to be true.”[3]
I hope you go listen to Priscilla’s teaching for yourself because that girl can PREACH! Her message reminded me of what Paul wrote to the church in Galatia-
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatian 3:28, ESV
Your identity is not white or black. Your identity is not poor or rich. Your identity is not male or female. Your identity is not Republican or Democrat. As Dr. Neil Shenvi said-
“Fundamentally, you are the creature of a holy, loving, and good God.”[4]
Your primary identity is found in Christ. You are a Christian above all else. And your identity as a Christian is what unites you with other believers in your community, across the country, and all around the world. Do not embrace the divisive groups that the culture wants to put you in. Seek unity with your Christian brothers and sisters, and pray what Jesus prayed shortly before His crucifixion-
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” John 17:20-21
[1] Lexico, s.v. “Intersectionality,” accessed July 23, 2020, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/intersectionality.
[2] Allie Beth Stuckey, “275: Critical Theory: A Disastrous, Unbiblical Worldview,” July 15, 2020, in Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey, produced by Blaze Podcast Network, podcast, MP3 audio, 1:20:29, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-275-critical-theory-a-disastrous-unbiblical-worldview/id1359249098?i=1000485017940.
[3] “I Am Not a ‘Black Woman’” Actress Priscilla Shirer’s Message on Race and Identity Is as Relevant Now as It Was in 2017,” The Stream, June 25, 2020, https://stream.org/i-am-not-a-black-woman-actress-priscilla-shirers-message-on-race-and-identity-is-as-relevant-now-as-it-was-in-2017/.
[4] Allie Beth Stuckey, “275: Critical Theory: A Disastrous, Unbiblical Worldview,” July 15, 2020, in Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey, produced by Blaze Podcast Network, podcast, MP3 audio, 1:20:29, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-275-critical-theory-a-disastrous-unbiblical-worldview/id1359249098?i=1000485017940.
